Kuhnert was born in
Oppeln in 1865. After the end of his technical-commercial apprenticeship at the age of 17, Kuhnert was a scholarship student at the
Berlin University of the Arts from 1883 to 1887. From his home in
Berlin, he embarked on travels to
Scandinavia,
Egypt,
East Africa and
India to make landscape and animal studies. His favorite motif was the African lion. In 1901 Kuhnert was the illustrator for zoologist
Johann Wilhelm Haacke's book
Animal Life on Earth. In 1903, he became one of the many artists selected to provide illustrations and design
trading cards for the Cologne chocolate company,
Stollwerck. He also provided some illustrations for the 1890 edition of
Brehms Tierleben. Contrary to the practice of his peers, Kuhnert distinguished himself by sketching tropical animals in the wild, not in zoos. He made pictures by
sketching,
etching,
watercolor, and
oil painting. Kuhnert is considered one of the most important German animal painters of his time. Kuhnert was a keen and skilled hunter himself; he returned to Africa year after year in the hunt for both game and subjects for his art. ==Death==